Borrowing Warmth
by melancholyMisfit
Summary: Cuddling boyfriend are stupid and fluffy.


_Woo ok one is complete! This one is for Madi-pie. Sorry it's so short. I basically just vomited fluff all over my keyboard and this came out of it. This is for the gift exchange from this past December. So sorry your original person flaked and sorry it took me so long to churn this out! Happy super late Holidays Madi!_

"Holy fucking shit, Strider _get off of me."_ He growls, trying to wedge his fingers beneath your death grip around his waist.

You nuzzle your nose into his sweater, inhale his scent and slightly tighten your hold around him. It's the middle of winter and positively freezing outside. Your bro keeps the heat low since he apparently likes the cold and couldn't care less if you're freezing your balls off. You'd learned at a young age that layers are your friend. Currently you're wearing three pairs of socks, flannel bottoms under sweat pants, a sweater, a hoodie and a blanket around your shoulders. Yet there was Karkat, sitting on the couch with bare feet, a single sweater and a pair of jeans like it's not ten below zero in here.

"Shhhh. You're warm." Your voice is muffled by the material of his sweater but you know he's heard you.

He wiggles, squirms and grunts while trying to pry you off of him. His claws keep poking you but he's careful not to scratch you. You'd found out a while ago that troll skin is a lot thicker than human skin and their claws can easily puncture your thin flesh. He'd been confused and then annoyed when you called him Edward Scissor-Hands for a month after he'd accidentally hurt you. As it was Karkat kept his claws fairly short and filed to resemble human nails but they were still hard and pinched a bit. When he left them be, they grew to be sharper like little razors on the ends of his fingers. If he didn't file them once every two days they'd become a danger to your fleshy human body again.

He tries to kick you but isn't able to with the angle and your weight pressing down on his legs. With a half sigh, half growl he collapses back against the pillows on the couch. He smacks the back of your head but leaves his hand there and begins to idly play with the blonde locks while he continues to complain.

"If you're so damn cold just turn up the heat. I'm not your personal body heater!" He gripes, pulling through a tangle with his fingers.

"You know I can't. I'd rather not have bro come home and kick my ass because it's slightly warmer than it was when he left."

"It's the responsibility of the lusus to make sure their charge is healthy and comfortable. It's irresponsible for him to let you go cold."

"Shhhh." You say again. "Use your weird mutant troll body heat for good."

He grunts and you just know he's rolled his eyes. "I didn't sign on to be your forced cuddle partner, Dave."

"Isn't it in the troll rule book that you have to be a willing body pillow when your matesprit needs one?"

"You know good and well that there isn't a fucking rule book. If you wanted to cuddle you could have just asked instead of throwing yourself onto me and latching your arms around my waist while I'm watching a movie."

"What else do you expect me to do when you're sittin' here lookin' all cute and nubby?"

He falls silent and tugs a bit on your hair unconsciously. Or at least you assume he didn't mean to pull. You lift your head and rest your chin on his stomach so you can see his face. He's staring at the TV screen but you get the feeling he's not really watching. His grey cheeks have a very faint dusting of cherry red blood along his sharp cheekbones. You pull one hand out from under him and poke his chubby cheek. He swats your hand away and scowls. You smile. So freaking cute.

You wiggle your way up, with many complaints from him ("ouch you asshole, get your elbow out of my ribs"), and twist around until your positions have been switched and his head is nestled under your chin. His hands fist in your hoodie and the blush spreads to his ears. Adorable. You pet his head between his horns and soon enough the purr like rumble starts up and he settles against you, hands unclenching and eyes drooping.

You focus on the way his purring reverberates through your chest like the amped up bass of your favorite song. Rose has always said the feeling is a bit uncomfortable when she's cuddled up with Kanaya but you like it. It feels nice. Like there's a giant cat lying on top of you, though she says a cat's purr isn't nearly as strong.

He shifts his head a bit, knocking your chin with one of his horns. He mumbles an apology and you intentionally bump his horn with your fingers in return. He jabs you in the side with one of his knuckles. Their horns can't feel as they're nothing but solid calcium but where the base meets scalp tends to be sensitive. The shorter the horns are, the more sensitive it is. He complains that it itches and feels uncomfortable. Like an annoying touch that he needs to shake off, even if it's his own hands. You imagine it's hard for him to wash his hair with those little nubs in the way. You kiss the top of his head in way of an apology and he relaxes again.

Your hand drifts down to the nap of his neck where you brush away the short hair with your fingers. You delicately drag your fingertips down his neck and between his shoulder blades and he shivers. He jiggles his shoulder in an attempt to move your hand away. You smile and comply, resting the palm of your hand on the back of his neck and leaving it there. He's so fussy and difficult, making it hard to just cuddle with him without ending up with at least one new bruise.

It amazes you how normal this has become. It's almost mundane the way you can cuddle him and kiss him like it's completely ordinary. You wonder if it would be like this if you lived together. Would you eat dinner together every night? Cuddle on the couch while watching TV or just talking? Kiss in the hallway, cook together, share a bed and spend every morning whispering sweet nothings as the sun comes up and lights the previously dark room? You can see yourself doing all of that and more and with him and that scares you sometimes. It scares you to love someone this much but you wouldn't trade the feeling for anything else.

In the time since you claimed him as your heated pillow you've completely forgotten about the cold. Having a body with a normal temperature of 110 degrees laying on top of you can do that. But it's also because it's Karkat. He complains and yells and insults you most of the time but sometimes you can get him to calm down like this. As much as he avoids the topic you know very well that he cares for you as much as you do for him. Hell, he'd been the one who had asked for a matespritship to start with. It just wasn't always easy to see the hidden love behind his angry words and grumpy personality. Beneath it all everyone knows he's a big softy and a bit of a cry baby. To others your relationship might look one sided but they don't know Karkat. They don't know that he's the most caring person you've ever known.

Sure, troll and human relationships are still frowned upon but who the hell cares? Who cares that you get dirty looks out on the street when you hold his hand? None of it matters because you're hopelessly in love. What does matter is that you're Dave Strider and you have a warm, purring, content Karkat Vantas, your matesprit, gently clinging to your chest as he watches one of the worst romcoms to ever exist.


End file.
